Roger Casement

Sir Roger Casement, (1864-1916), Irish patriot, British consular official, he also intended to spearhead a -Sinn-Fein+ rebellion to end British rule in Ireland before being arrested and hanged for high treason.

A pioneering, early 20th century human rights activist who, as a British diplomat, chronicled abuses in places as far flung as Peru and the Belgian Congo, Casement was knighted for his efforts in 1911. But the Dubliner’s true allegiances lay elsewhere. In 1916, he was seized by British soldiers and charged with conspiring with the Germans to arm and lead an uprising in his native Ireland. He was stripped of his imperial honors and executed in August of that year.